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The Week in Yum - Detroit, Shepard Fairey at The LSC and Taste of Toronto

I am posting my Week In Yum a day early because I am on the road to Montreal tomorrow after lunch at Taste of Toronto. Keep an eye out for my posts about my trip to Detroit in the coming weeks. First up, after telling you about the Shepard Fairey exhibit, I will be doing a round up of the amazing restaurants I ate in and then I am going to share a story or two about some of the people making things happen in Detroit, but for now, if you can swing a trip to Detroit before this wonderful art show is gone, move heaven and earth to do that.

Shepard Fairey "Printed Matter"

Renowned American artist, Shepard Fairey, spent most of May in Detroit painting a 184 ft mural on the back of the Compuware Building at the behest of Quicken Loans founder and CEO, Dan Gilbert. Gilbert also commissioned him to tag the outdoor walls at his Beltway Alley outdoor gallery, behind the Library Street Collective, which is currently housing a large Fairey exhibit. It seems that this wasn't enough to keep Fairey, famous for his Obama "Hope" poster, so busy that he didn't find time to tag at least 23 more buildings around town. Okay, so those works were unauthorized but, come on. A real Shepard Fairey tag makes your derelict building that is barely worth the cost of the paint he used worth at least another $5000+ just by virtue of the artwork. In fact, there seem to be at least 14 more buildings affected but their owners can't be found. That isn't stopping the Detroit Police from claiming more than $9,000 in damages and putting out a felony warrant for his arrest. Detroit Police should be begging Mr Fairey to return to their fine city and keep on driving up the property values by leaving his mark on even more buildings.

At any rate, the whole idea of going to Detroit only came about because Shack, a HUGE Fairey fan, wanted to see the show. When I started digging around, I discovered that the food scene in Detroit has continued to grow and seems to be increasingly responsible for the revitalization of downtown. How could we not go and see for ourselves?

I will be writing lots of stories in the coming weeks about the city, the restaurants we ate in and some of the amazing young people we met but for now, let's talk about this Shepard Fairey show at a beautiful little gallery called The Library Street Collective.

I contacted Angela Wisniewski about the chance of sticking around a bit after their 6pm closing time on a Saturday in case we ran into any trouble on the way down. You never know what will happen when you are driving an old car and then there is the border to contend with but Angela was amazing. She gave me her information so we could keep in touch and was happy to accommodate us if need be, despite my change of dates in the end. Not only was Angela wonderfully helpful regarding our gallery visit, but she also added a whack of amazing restaurants to my list of places to visit and is responsible for sending us to the humble little Mexican Steakhouse, El Asador, 10 minutes from the heart of the Detroit in an area I was told is called "Mexican Town".

some of the artwork in the outdoor alley

we managed to make it for a good hour on the drive down before this happened. It was another 15 minutes before we could pull off the highway and put the top up. We go top down for as long as humanly possible and sometimes this is the price you pay. It's how we do.

Luckily, the drive was wet but drama free and we arrived in plenty of time to get to the gallery. We spent a couple of hours wandering through the gallery and out in the back alley, taking pictures and basically mooning over the work. The gallery has two large rooms and one small room, all devoted to Mr Fairey at the moment and there are a number of pieces on the walls of the building out in the alley as well. The entire alley is painted up by Fairey as well as some other artists and it's gorgeous. Entrance to the LSC is free since it's a private gallery and all the pieces are for sale but the hours are a bit challenging so if you want to go during your visit, plan accordingly.

The show, Printed Matter, runs through to August 15 so there is still time to plan a trip to Detroit to see it. There is so much to do, see and eat in the city right now that it is THE one weekend trip you should be taking.

We ate nothing but delicious food and imbibed delicious drinks at no less than 8 restaurants/cafes/distilleries that ranged from high end hipster hangouts to an assuming Mexican Steak House that knocked our socks off. I will talk about all of that in another post in the coming week.

the view from the people mover is the best one in town

the abandoned old Train Station is at the centre of a contentious legal battle and hauntingly beautiful

more views from the people mover

you could spend a solid week driving around taking photos

see? gorgeous

driving around town in the hot rod was the perfect way to get around

the Heidelberg Project

Burger's Priest

On the way home, we swung through Hamilton and stopped in at the newest Burger's Priest. I had a Nathan's Kosher Dog and Shack had a Cheeseburger and both were delicious, as expected. The menu is much more extensive than the original menu, the place is big and shiny with plenty of seating, which is also weird but that's the way these things work, I suppose. What's next, free relish?

Last, but certainly not least, this weekend is the Taste of Toronto, starting today!

Taste of Toronto

Known as the ‘birthplace of urban Toronto’, Fort York will play host to the second annual Taste of Toronto.

Taste of Toronto is back for its second year July 2nd – 5th, 2015.
Fort York will be transformed into a foodie wonderland for four days of summer eating, drinking and entertainment. The city’s latest, greatest and hottest restaurants will be dishing up their finest in an alfresco gourmet feast. Top that off with over 70 producers of the best food, beverages and premium brands providing a bountiful food market, and you have the best culinary festival of the year!

Operating much like a restaurant with lunch and dinner services, Taste of Toronto is comprised of six half-day sessions that last between 4- 5 hours which gives our guests the time to enjoy their pick of restaurant dishes, browse the artisan stalls and enjoy some of the many attractions including the Taste Theatre, Metro Master Classes, the Tasting Room, a Delta Air Lines VIP Lounge and a Music Stage.

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About Me

Carole's passions for food and her family--although not necessarily in that order--are legendary. From her love of blogging in The Yum Yum Factor, including showcasing delicious and unique ethnic and everyday recipes as well as reviewing local restaurants and other exciting edible happenings in Toronto, to completing a personal challenge of never repeating the same recipe twice for a full year (which proved easier said than done!) to being regularly profiled Canada-wide in the National Post's Gastropost feature, Carole has found her niche in the food world by drawing on her vast travel experience and food knowledge for inspiration as well as the daily ups and downs of her life for humour.

When she's not busy creating magic in her own kitchen, Carole, an in-demand makeup artist, works her magic on celebrities from Kristen Stewart to Bruce Willis.